Collections & Credit Risk articles from May 2003

Collections & Credit Risk archives from May 2003

Red Sails in the Sunset: Old Mariners Don't Die, We Just Change Course.
May 1, 2003... Why am I smiling? Because by the time you read this, I will be retired and headed for Southern California. After 30-some years in the business of publishing B2B magazines, newsletters, directories, databases, and conferences, I am opting out of...

Letters to the Editor.
May 1, 2003... Pyramid Scheme? To the Editor: There will always be debt to buy, but many people are not studying the long-term problems. Much of this seems to be a pyramid scheme, which depends on buying more debt all the time. At times the brokers...

Survey Results.(debt-buying market is very hot right now, but is it in danger of over-heating?)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Here's how visitors to Credit & Collections World, Collections & Credit Risk's website, voted on this month's Instant Survey: The debt-buying market is very hot right now, but is it in danger of over-heating? 40% Yes. There's a lot...

Back Taxes At Forefront.(IRS to outsource debt)
May 1, 2003... The Internal Revenue Service's plan to outsource more than $200 billion in back taxes to collections agencies is moving ahead as planned, but there is some concern expressed privately that the government agency's security and privacy fears...

What's New?(debt collections software)
May 1, 2003... Hubbard Unveils New Software Hubbard Systems Inc. (formerly Jim Hubbard & Associates), announces the availability of MPower - its latest debt collections application. Designed to run under Microsoft Windows, MPower expands the firm's...

First Data, Concord Merge.
May 1, 2003... First Data Corp. and Concord EFS plan to merge in a deal valued at about $7 billion. Greenwood Village, Colo.-based First Data is the majority owner of NYCE - the nation's second-largest electronic funds transfer network. Memphis, Tenn.-...

Better Results: The New Mantra of Debt Collections Software: There are more technological options available to help collect debt than ever. Some advanced approaches offer great opportunities for cutting costs, increasing efficiency, and effectively managing collections from start to finish.
May 1, 2003... A sound argument can be made that within the past few years, firms in the business of managing and collecting debt - law firms, collections agencies, and financial institutions - refocused their main business objective from the generation of...

Criminal Intent: A cross-industry fraud database is helping identify repeat offenders and prevent them from harming more people. But can it - and other centralized databases - arrest the crime wave?
May 1, 2003... It's estimated that fraud costs the financial services industry about $35 billion a year. Much of the fraud takes place at the time of the credit application when the criminal uses a piece of stolen information such as a social security...

Playing by the Rules and Winning.(collection conference)
May 1, 2003... National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys Spring Collection Conference: May 15-17, 2003 Fairmont Hotel New Orleans, LA Thursday, May 15, 2003 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Closed (Invite-Only) Credit...

Exhibitors.(Collections conference and exhibits)
May 1, 2003... (part 1 of 2) Booth Company 203 Access! Corporation 101 Accurint 106 Cal West Mortgage 400 Collins Financial Services 300 Commercial Legal Software 405 Dantom Systems, Inc....

Hot Prospects and Hot Tamales: In an era of mushrooming debt, collections attorneys face challenges and opportunities as they ply their trade. How can they spice up their practice but avoid unwelcome heartburn?
May 1, 2003... Debt loads may have jumped dramatically in the United States in the past few years, but there's not been a corresponding uptick in the number of collections law firms. That's according to Adam J. Olshan, president of the National Association...

Wachovia Capitalizes on Post-Merger: Wachovia's merger with First Union prompted integration of the two banks' technology and products. The result: a top-ranked treasury management service.
May 1, 2003... When Wachovia merged with First Union in September 2001, two treasury service providers began the daunting process of integrating their products and services. "We kept customer focus central to our plans as we examined what technology...

Calculating the Optimal Solution: North American telecommunication companies are pinched between rising delinquencies and falling revenue growth rates. Optimization, combined with Champion-Challenger testing, can help resolve the dilemma.
May 1, 2003... When it comes to increasing, or even maintaining cash flow, today's communications carriers face an uphill battle. Increasing dollars past-due and number of accounts in collections, fewer funds available for capital investment to support...

Debt Buying Swims into the Mainstream: The rise of new financing sources may mean consolidation is next for the debt-buying industry as firms grow through acquisitions of smaller and specialized firms. The dynamic is one of many creating opportunities in the marketplace.
May 1, 2003... Long fragmented and little noticed, the debt-buying industry is seeing an influx of outside capital through IPOs, private equity sales, and more favorable mezzanine and subordinate debt financing. The new funding sources, largely coming in...

Credit Risk Protection.(credit insurance)
May 1, 2003... In January, Michael A. Lazarus found himself in a bit of a sales dilemma. He wanted to take on several new, major customers for his fabricated steel distribution business, Millennium Metal Corp., of Chicago. But he worried about the scale of...

Credit Insurers Vendors (Partial List).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Company AIG Chubb Trade Credit Coface North America Euler ACI Gerling NCM Credit and Finance AG Location New York Warren, N.J. New York Baltimore Baltimore Website ...

Keep Your Shirt On: Optimization can lead to greater efficiency and boost the bottom line for credit granting and collections operations. And it doesn't require losing your shirt in the process.
May 1, 2003... If businesses are to succeed in today's price-driven market, it is critically important for organizations in the credit industry to operate at the highest levels of efficiency. Fortunately, by designing the right experiments and carefully...

Advertising and Service Contacts for Collections & Credit Risk and Credit & Collections World.
May 1, 2003... Advertising Western Sales Manager Brenda Schultheis 300 South Wacker Drive, Suite 1800 Chicago, Illinois 60606 Brenda.Schultheisthomsonmedia.com (847) 251-1588 Fax: (847) 251-0887 Eastern Sales Manager ...